The European Union has banned the popular Chinese video-sharing app TikTok from the mobile devices of its employees over security concerns.
The app developed by the Chinese firm ByteDance has over 1 billion active users worldwide, it has come under close scrutiny in the US and other countries for its alleged link with the Government of Beijing.
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The United States already warned of the alleged link between the Chinese company and the Communist Party, accusing TikTok of collecting and sharing data for Chinese intelligence.
A senior official told POLITICO that all staff was ordered on Thursday morning to remove the popular app from their official devices. The staff was also ordered to uninstall the app from their personal devices by March 15 if they were also used for professional business.
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An alternative option for the staff is to delete work-related apps from their personal phones if want continues to use TikTok.
“To protect Commission’s data and increase its cybersecurity, the EC Corporate Management Board has decided to suspend the TikTok application on corporate devices and personal devices enrolled in the Commission mobile device service,” said the email sent to staff on Thursday morning.
“The reason why this decision has been taken is to … increase the commission’s cybersecurity,” commission spokesperson Sonya Gospodinova said at a press briefing in Brussels.
“Also, the measure aims to protect the commission against cybersecurity threats and actions which may be exploited for cyberattacks against the corporate environment of the commission.”
